A Surprise Return
by theriteofpassage
Summary: Peeta wasn't hijacked (need I say more?) One-shot I know it's been done, but I had a spurt of motivation and felt like some fluff. PeetaXKatniss -some intense language (fair warning)-


**I know this has been done, but I honestly just felt like doing my ow take on it. So I'm changing a couple things as far as what happens **_**before**_** Peeta is rescued, such as small injuries to Katniss.**

"They're back," Haymitch whispered.

"What…?" I mumbled, still groggy from a recent surgery to remove a small piece of shrapnel that had lodged itself into my eyebrow on a small trip to a hospital in district nine. They had neglected to clean and remove it there, having been swarmed by more than a few bombs.

"They're back, Katniss."

"Who the hell are you talking about?"

"Peeta…Peeta, they got him out."

"What?"

What he had been saying to me didn't make sense. He tried to explain further, saying how they had sent out a small team to get him out late last night, knowing fully well that I was not going to be successful as The Mockingjay without Peeta by my side. And only after a long time of sitting hunched over on the edge of the hospital bed did it register in my mind what he was saying.

Peeta was back.

I sat up straight and stared at him, my eyes welling up with tears.

"Fucking hell, Sweetheart," Haymitch said as he looked down at me, a small smile appearing on his face.

"Where is he…" I muttered.

"A couple halls down." I began to stand up but lost my balance and he caught me. "Let me take you to him."

"Thank you…"

He led me down the hall as quietly and smoothly as he could despite the chaos that seemed to be happening around us.

Nurses and doctors rushed past us, one even bumped into me and I would've fallen down had Haymitch not quickly grabbed my waist to keep me from falling.

"How much did they give you, Sweetheart," he laughed.

"A lot…obviously." I struggled to find words, focusing too much on trying not to fall over and yet to make it to Peeta as quickly as possible.

It suddenly occurred to me that, despite having been staying in the hospital, they never took the time to have me change before my surgery, and so the clothes I wore now were slightly stained with blood at the shoulder, and I wondered if it would gross Peeta out.

_Stupid… he probably won't care._

Finnick stumbled up next to us, screaming at Haymitch to tell him where Annie was.

I hardly payed attention until I realized that Haymitch's hand had left my shoulder, and I slammed into the wall at my right, quickly falling onto my knees.

"Shit, Katniss…" I heard Finnick say. He began to try and help me up, his hands closing around my upper left arm.

"Fucking… shut up…" I retorted.

Then suddenly I could see a thin girl sprinting her way towards us, calling Finnick's name, and I tried not to notice that her chest neglected to be covered by the thin hospital gown she was wearing.

Finnick's hands left my arms and I fell back onto the floor, quickly mumbling a "fuck you" to him for making me fall once more.

The two collided into a hug and slammed back into the wall I was currently leaning on. The girl, who I assumed was Annie, began passionately kissing Finnick and I looked away, partly disgusted and partly trying not to invade on their moment.

I heard two people call my name, and registered it as Gale and Haymitch. Haymitch began to help me up once more, and Gale's face came into my view.

His forehead was bloody, much like I assumed mine was, and a nurse carefully tended to some object lodged into his shoulder.

I didn't have time to pay attention to him, Haymitch had said my name again and was moving me farther down the hall.

"We're almost there."

And then I was being pushed slightly through a doorway, and I could see Peeta.

I knew I was skinny, having not eaten in many days, but compared to Peeta, I looked overweight.

There was hardly anything even on him, and he resembled simply just a skeleton with skin. He had bruises covering his arms and neck, from what I could see, and he had markings along his arms that resembled what looked to be like puncture wounds from needles.

"Holy… shit…" I pushed out through my teeth, which seemed to have clenched together. Tears began to well up in my eyes and a choking sound escaped me and I quickly slapped a hand over my mouth to make it stop. Beginning to lose my balance, I leaned against the doorway. I shut my eyes, trying to keep from crying.

"Katniss?" a voice called out.

I gasped.

It'd been so long since I heard his voice that I almost couldn't recognize it, but that tenderness would never leave him, and just hearing that in him broke me.

My knees shook, but I quickly moved my eyes to him and saw him staring at me with concerned eyes.

I subconsciously began to stumble forward, extending my hand out to him, and he did the same. He weakly grabbed my fingers and pulled me towards him, stepping away from the bed as he did. However, he seemed to be as weak in the knees as I was, and so we both fell to the floor in a heap, wrapping our arms around each other.

I began sobbing, a horrible sob that I can only describe as sounding like a hyena laughing. Peeta said nothing, which seemed unlike him, but I soon realized that he was crying just as hard as I was. I pulled away just slightly, managing to stop the sobbing noises but still sniffling and tears still falling down my face. I stared into his eyes, so broken and sad, though still held that usual essence of hope that I had never seen escape his eyes. He smiled slightly and I quickly leaned forward, grabbing the back of his neck as gently as I could manage and capturing his lips with mine.

He was shocked at first, probably never expecting me to take initiative the way I did now. Nevertheless, he responded just as eagerly once recovering from his shock. His hands snaked their way around my waist, pulling me even closer to him. It ended just as quickly as it started, and as I pulled away, I made no haste to press my forehead gently to his, moving my hands from his neck to the side of his face.

"I love you…" I mumbled, shutting my eyes, a smile making its way onto my face.

He didn't say it back at first, and as I opened my eyes and looking at him.

"What?" he said.

"I love you."

The brightest smile I had ever seen on him broke out, and he began laughing.

"What!?" I snapped. "I'm being seriou—"

He cut me off with a small kiss. "I know… I'm sorry." He pressed our foreheads together again. "I'm just so happy that you're here, and that you're ok… I love you too."


End file.
